Chapter 12: Red and White; red blood rains from the white clouds of heaven
Takeshi and Tatsuki were just making it to the lake. They had taken longer than they thought, even though they didn't go all the way, it still took them a while to get there.
"Hey slowpokes," Keiko teased "what took you so long to get here?"
""Keiko, we did the same thing," Nagasaki said, "don't listen to her; we just got here two minutes ago."
"Well that's a relief," Tatsuki said.
"Yah, I thought you guys would have been waiting for at least twenty minutes," Takeshi added, "I guess we didn't give much 'alone time' did we?"
The group laughed at this, good humor was much appreciated in this time of turmoil with how the duel for leader went. Many of the clan's minor leaders believed that Hotsuma had cheated and used a Ninjutsu spell to win the duel, which was strictly forbidden. But still, others who were loyal believed that the right leader was chosen and remained loyal to him.
-half hour later-
The group had now cooled off. There was a large rock, about thirty feet high, next to the lake that they liked to jump off of. Tatsuki was now about perform a halo dive (like a halo jump but much less altitude, Tatsuki had made this dive upon her own). Keiko and Nagasaki were cheering Tatsuki on as Takeshi stood on the beach and watched his lover spread out her slender arms like she had done a thousand times before. She leaned back and tumbled right off of the rock. As her slender body plummeted time seemed to stand still for Takeshi.
The clouds shined a brilliant white as the sun shined behind them, letting little beams of light out where there were holes in the clouds. Then things gradually moved faster, but still going slowly. Something shiny caught his eye and he looked toward it. It was a swarm of shuriken, kunai and stars were both in it, and it was heading right for Tatsuki. He knew what had to be done, and that he might not live after this. He didn't care, all he cared about was Tatsuki's safety, he summoned a third of the energy inside him and transferred it into one enormous leap. The sand around his rippled heavily and then a vortex of sand and dust formed as he skyrocketed through the air.
As he soared he located the swarm again, he found it closer to Tatsuki (who still hadn't seen it) and speed faster towards her. She was now in a graceful, upright position, her arms still spread out. For a split second he thought he saw wings on her, but it could've been the adrenalin rush. Takeshi yelled out her name and she opened her eyes to se him, surprised. He hooked her arm and spun himself and her around. She was now facing the direction that the shuriken were coming from, his was to them.
The shuriken hit. The blood spray was so large that when it fell it gave the appearance that it was raining blood. His blood. They fell towards the water and hit, creating a big splash. As the blood rained down, Keiko screamed and hid under her arms as Nagasaki stood, dumbstruck.
"Dammit I missed!" rang out a voice, "that little hooker's boyfriend got in the way!"
Nagasaki knew that voice, how could he mistake it? It was, after all, his own brother's voice. Keiko was swimming to where Takeshi and Tatsuki had landed. Nagasaki turned to the direction of the sound and leaped to it.
Takeshi was floating in the water, as Keiko was ferrying him and helping Tatsuki swim to shore. All Tatsuki could do was cry and sob. Once they had reached the shore, she went to him and buried her face into his chest, crying. She clutched his shoulders with her hands. She cried a little more and put a hand behind his head and lifted it to her face and kissed his lips.
The white clouds stopped the rain of blood and real rain began to fall, as if Tatsuki's crying had been a rain Ninjutsu, and it seemed to mourn and cry as much as she was.
TJ's note: ok, so I didn't get 5 reviews like I requested, the reason being is that someone I know who is reading this story is having a hard time and needs to get their mind onto something else. As always, your reviews are more than welcome and encouraged. Thank you again for reading this story, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it, if not more. Also, the next chapter is the last one, but there is a secret chapter that I have written that states what Nagasaki did after he chased Hiroshima into the woods. If you would like to receive this chapter, you may e-mail me or write a review stating so.
Please remember there is no other way to get this chapter. The chapter has the following: first person point of view from Nagasaki (aka Nagasaki tiger), a couple of awesome pics of tigers vs. dragons (like in the story), and a special list of lovers and enemies! But this is only for people who request it via review or e-mail. Until the 13th chapter (and for the select few who get the secret chapter) c ya later!